Fleet Operations is a popular skirmish and multiplayer orientated total conversion modification for Activision's real-time strategy game Star Trek Armada II. The project's goal was not only to create a simple "modification" but as total conversion to make Armada II a worth successor to the second best selling Star Trek game Star Trek: Armada (behind Interplay's Star Trek: 25th Anniversary by a small, but fair margin). Version 3.0 includes advanced graphics, a whole new user interface, completly replaced ship models, 5 balanced races with totally new gameplay and tons of new possibilities making Armada II a real real-time strategy multiplayer game.
Fleet Operations is a complete overhaul of the original Armada 2, which came out almost a decade ago. It improves on the original in almost every possible way.
The four factions that were kept from the original have been completely overhauled, and a new one has been added; gameplay is much more strategic and intricate than that of the original. In Armada 2, tech trees and unit types were very similar across factions. Fleet Ops is much different: each faction has its own completely unique tech tree, as well as its own individual playing style and strategies. Sneaky players who like to use scouts and spies will want to choose the Romulans, and players who favour a small number of large, powerful units should choose Borg.
Resources have been greatly simplified and streamlined in Fleet Ops. The original game had five different resources, and managing them was often tedious. Fleet Ops has three.
The Fleet Ops devs have introduced a number of completely new gameplay features. For example, a ranking system was added for combat units. The system encourages players to keep their units from being destroyed, and rewards players who can micromanage. Units now include a wide array of passive abilities, which means Fleet Ops is like an intelligent game of rock-paper-scissors, not a "who can spam the biggest army" like the original Armada 2 was.
It's worth noting that Fleet Ops has a great, very active development team who are involved in the game's community.
Armada 2 was a great game when it first came out, but it has definitely aged. Fleet Ops does right everything the original did wrong -- and adds tons of innovations. Fleet Ops feels streamlined and professional. It's intelligent, but not too complicated. The graphics have been greatly improved, and the game looks amazing. Fleet Ops is a really fun, polished, and modern-feeling game, with a great, active online community. If you're a Star Trek fan, or even just an RTS fan, you should definitely give Fleet Ops a try!